Lausanne, Feb 24 : Malaysia will host the third edition of the FIH Hockey Men's Nations Cup from June 15-21, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced on Monday. The tournament features eight participating teams -- France, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, and Wales, with the winners qualifying for the 2025-26 FIH Hockey Pro League, the top league in world hockey.

This line-up is particularly impressive, with all teams but Pakistan having participated in the last FIH Hockey Men's World Cup in 2023, the FIH informed in a release on Monday.

The FIH Hockey Nations Cup was launched in 2021 with the aim of offering a top-level competition to the best-ranked teams not participating in the Hockey Pro League and giving the winning team the option to be promoted to the FIH Hockey Pro League the next season.

The first two editions were played in Potchefstroom, South Africa (2022) and Gniezno, Poland (2024). The inaugural Nations Cup (men) was won by South Africa while New Zealand won the following edition.

Commenting on the announcement, the Malaysian Hockey Confederation president, Subahan bin Kamal said, 'We are grateful to FIH for entrusting us to host this amazing event for the very first time. We are excited and believe this tournament will definitely bring the best of world hockey talents to Malaysia. We would also like to thank our Honourable Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh for supporting our effort in hosting this event.'

FIH chief Tayyab Ikram added, 'It's a true delight to go back to Malaysia with one of our major events. Our hosts have always been wonderful hockey tournament organisers and the same will prevail again for this Men's Nations Cup that will qualify the winners for the next edition of the FIH Hockey Pro League!"

/IANS